Thunder and Lightning
by Melli
Summary: How a thunder storm can bring three separate couples together in one evening.
1. Part 1

This takes place about two years after TRY. Sorry if I get Amelia's age wrong, I just estimated and hypothesized from what I've read online.  
Part 1  
BANG!  
CRACK!  
BOOM!  
FLASH!  
Filia whimpers and curls herself into a ball on the couch, watching the rain fall and the lightning flash.  
Wow, that last crash of thunder was really loud. Sounded like it was right overhead. I hope no trees were struck...  
For the moment, it is silent except for the rhythmic beating of rain against the roof of Filia's pottery shop/home. The priestess loses herself in the beauty of the rain.  
Rain drops make such a gorgeous pattern on windows...I love rainy days. I still enjoy sunny weather, but rain is great in its own unique--  
Her thoughts are interrupted by another loud crash of thunder. Again, she whimpers and hugs herself tighter.  
Except for thunder! I don't like thunder or lightning. Especially since... She trails of, not wanting to put into words the true reason she's afraid of thunderstorms.  
Filia tries to calm herself by remembering the rhyme they taught her as a child:  
When you hear it thunder in the night or noon,  
It's a mighty good sign it's gonna clear up soon.  
There's a big crybaby in the moon moon moon  
Who cries cries cries...  
Unfortunately, this memory has the opposite effect on the Ryuzoku and tears fall from her eyes.  
"Filia-chan!" A familiar voice comes form Filia's left. She immediately recognizes it and turns red.  
"Xelloss! What do you want, namagomi?"  
"Nothing much, my dear Filia. Just wanted to see how you were doing. It's been a long time, ne?"  
Filia restrains her anger. He hasn't done anything really terrible...yet.  
"OK, Mazoku, you've seen. I'm just fine! Now leave."  
"What great hosts you Ryuzoku make! An old friend stops by for a visit and you just brush him off. Don't even offer a cup of tea or a seat! Selfish dragon," Xelloss teases, knowing Filia's reaction.  
Just as he suspected, she pulls out Mace-sama from under her skirt and raises it high above her head, preparing to strike.  
"Nama-GO-Eeeep!"  
Mid-swing and mid-shout, a particularly loud crack comes from the sky right above her house. Filia drops Mace-sama and curls up on the couch again. When the lightning flashes, Xelloss can see her face is pale and tear-streaked. Fresh tears are flowing from her eyes, too, despite her obvious efforts not to be seen crying in front of Xel.  
This take the Trickster Priest by surprise. Also taking him by surprise is the sudden urge to hold the woman in front of him, stroke her soft, blonde hair, and tell her everything will be all right.  
Instead, Xelloss sits on the couch, where she is tightly huddled, yet again staring out the window. Filia barely notices when he sits.  
"What's wrong, Filia?" he asks.  
Hm? What's that? Do I detect a hint of...concern? For me? she thinks, but doesn't move.  
"Come on, Fi-chan. Tell Uncle Xelloss all about it," he orders playfully. But there is none of the usual malice or mockery in his voice. Just that concern.  
Filia turns to look at him and the dam holding back her tears breaks. Again to Xel's surprise, she throws herself into his arms, crying softly.  
Xelloss gets over his shock and holds her, stroking her soft, blonde hair and telling her everything will be all right.  
When Filia finally regains her composure, she loosens her grip on Xel, realizing whom she had just turned to for solace.  
"I'm...I'm sorry. I probably made you uncomfortable," she whispers.  
"No, not at all. Well, maybe a little. But it's okay," he admits. "Now are you ready to tell me what's bothering you? It must be absolutely dreadful to reduce you to this level-crying on a Mazoku's shoulder and all."  
Filia sniffs and nods. She starts her story.  
"I was born and raised in the Temple of the Fire Dragon King. You already know that. But you don't know about my family-or lack thereof.  
"My parents died when I was five. It was during a thunderstorm like this one." She motions to the window, indicating the clement weather outside. "We had gone to visit some family friends in a nearby village. On our way home, through the forest, it started raining. Soon it was pouring and there was thunder and lightning."  
Filia pauses to take a deep breath and look up at Xelloss. He is patiently watching and listening to her. His usual smile is softer and his eyes are open, which scares Filia at first until she realizes there's no evil to be found in the amethyst pools.  
She swallows and, with some trouble, continues, "We were almost out of the forest when a bolt of lightning hit a tree, which fell over. On my parents. The trunk crushed them and trapped my leg. The next morning, a scout from the temple found us, but my parents were already dead.  
"Since I had no other family, I was raised by the priests and priestesses to follow in their footsteps. As you know, I have.  
"So that's why I'm so scared of thunder and lightning. They remind me of that night. And of the intense loneliness I've felt ever since then," Filia concludes.  
She looks up at Xel again, and this time sees sympathy in his purple eyes.  
"Do you...Do you think I'm pitiful for being afraid of storms just because of that one night?" she asks tentatively.  
"No. It must have been traumatic for a five-year-old to lose their parents like that. And I could never pity you, Filia. I respect you too much."  
"Really? You respect me? After all the mean things I've done to you?"  
In answer, Xelloss leans over and wipes Filia's tears away with his gloved thumb. Then he tenderly kisses her. After realizing what's going on, she kisses back. They break apart a moment later and smile at each other. No words are exchanged as the couple cuddle together to spend the night watching the storm.  
  



	2. Part 2

Part 2  
Lina and Gourry had been walking through the woods in comfortable silence when the rain started. Miles from any kind of civilization, they were forced to seeks shelter from the impending storm among the trees. Now, after half an hour, they still have no luck.  
"Lina, I'm getting wet!"  
"Of course you are, jellyfish brains! It's raining!"  
The redhead is using her cape as an umbrella (for what it's worth) but the hapless blond wears no cape with his usual armor.  
Lina mutters, "What a time to lose my powers! *sigh* Guys have it easy."  
"Hey Lina! Look over there! A cave!" Gourry points off to his right. Sure enough, a few hundred yards off, the great wall of rock they had been travelling along opens, forming a small cave.  
"Wow, you're right! I was wrong, Gourry. You are good for something."  
"What if there's a bear in it? You can't fireball it 'cause it's that time of the month!"  
"There's another thing you're good at, protector! Obviously, you'll mud-wrestle the bear to save my life! Now come on!" She pulls his arm as they sprint to the cave.  
Upon arrival, the duo finds that the cave is, in fact, vacant, and not too hostile-looking, either. The indent of stone is about 8 ft. tall, 7 ft. wide, and 6 ft. long. The remnants of a fire are encircled by several medium-sized rocks, indicating that someone else had recently taken up residence there.  
Unfortunately, Lina finds that she is not able to make a fire with these meager remains.  
"What I would give for one fireball..." she mumbles, teeth chattering.  
"Lina, you really got drenched, didn't you? Guess your cape isn't water-proof," Gourry observes.  
Lina ignores him and curls up on the floor of the cave. She shivers uncontrollably and tries to make her body as small as possible to conserve heat.  
Gourry, who merely shook off the rain and the chill, watches this and wonders what to do. On one hand, he really should keep her warm. It's what he was taught to do-put a lady in front of himself. On the other hand, he doesn't have a dry cape or blanket to wrap her in.  
Body heat! My armor kept me pretty dry and warm, so I've got body heat to spare! But if I try anything to share it, she'll fireball me for sure...Oh yeah, she doesn't have her powers! Gourry remembers this with a grin. He's about to hug Lina and come away alive! Truly amazing!  
The swordsman gets up and approaches the quivering sorceress, who is trying not to mind the bitter cold and let sleep overcome her. As he nears her form, she opens her eyes and her mouth. He kneels next to her just as Lina is about to ask, "Gourry, what in the nine hells are you doing?"  
Before she can make a sound, he has engulfed her in his long, muscular arms. Gourry wraps her up in his body and senses the question she was about to ask.  
"You're cold. I'm warming you up," he says by way of explanation.  
Lina is taken aback and momentarily speechless. Not that she's not enjoying this.  
He's so warm...Mmm, he smells good, too.  
Actually, these thought are not new to Lina's mind. For a while, things between her and Gourry were complicated, as emotions always are. In that very moment, she sorts everything out and the turmoil in her mind turns to peace.  
Turning around to face Gourry, Lina places her lips firmly on his. For one second (an eternity to Lina), nothing happens.  
Oh no! What have I done? He doesn't like me like that! Stupid stupid stupid!  
But after that eternal second, Gourry's slow mind registers what's going on and he responds. He tightens his grip and takes over, much to the relief of Lina, who has never even come close to kissing a man.  
Gourry kisses Lina gently for another minute before he breaks it. Thunder rolls and lightning flares as they gaze into each other's eyes and settle down to wait out the storm.  



	3. Part 3

Part 3  
Amelia sits in her father's study. She's all dressed up in her big pink princess gown. At the moment, she is supposed to be researching a neighboring nation for her father so that he can go and make peace between this neighbor and another nation. But when the rain starts, all she can think of is...Zelgadiss...  
The princess sighs, staring out the window. It's been a whole year since she'd seen any of her friends. Lina, Gourry, Filia, and Xelloss had come to her eighteenth birthday party, but no one had been able to find Zelgadiss.  
When they had parted ways two years ago, Amelia had only a schoolgirl crush on her chimera friend. Now, after growing up and having more than enough time to think about it, she realizes that maybe it was something more...could be something more.  
Amelia sighs again, contemplating these things and wishing ardently for some sign from Zel. The thunder and lightning don't bother her, it's the emptiness in her heart.  
As his daughter is nineteen, Prince Philionel has been trying to find a husband for Amelia. But the not-so-tiny-anymore sorceress has managed to find something wrong with every suitor. They're all great guys, it's just that they're...not Zelgadiss...  
Sighing yet again, Amelia turns back to her work. She opens a book and picks up a quill just as someone knocks o the door.  
"Come in," she calls.  
The door opens and one of the household's many servants steps in.  
"Princess Amelia? Your Highness, you are needed at the front gate."  
"Why?" Amelia inquires.  
"There's someone who claims to know you, my lady. The guards won't let him in and he's demanding to see you," the servant replies.  
"Oh, okay. I'm coming," she says puzzled. Still, she pushes back her chair and follows the servant to the entrance of the palace.  
Another servant opens the large front door, allowing the princess to see out into the storm, but not to get wet. She peers through the falling rain and sees a man being restrained by two guards. He is tall and handsome with raven hair to match that of Amelia.  
I wonder who it is...  
When he sees the figure in the doorway, the man calls out, "Amelia!"  
By his voice, Amelia is able to identify him and cries, "Mr. Zelgadiss!"  
She runs towards him, despite the rain. The guards, seeing that their princess recognizes the man, step aside to allow their embrace.  
Pulling herself away from her old friend, she says, "Oh, Zelgadiss, you're back!" Looking at his smooth, pink face and soft, black hair, she adds, "And you've found your cure!"  
Zel smiles and nods. "Yes. After all these years of searching, I stumbled across a scripture with the right spell-literally! In a small, abandoned temple near Sonya."  
Suddenly remembering that they're standing out in heavy rain, Amelia exclaims, "Let's go inside and dry off!"  
Putting their arms around each other's waists, Zel and Amelia enter the palace and head for the kitchen. The princess asks servants to bring them dry clothes and asks cooks to make Zelgadiss a snack. Then, after changing, they move to the sitting room and have a seat on the couch in front of the fire to await the food.  
"So what have you been up to all this time?" Amelia asks.  
Zel smiles and says, "I'll tell you later."  
Confused by this answer, Amelia opens her mouth to clarify, but any noise is cut off by Zelgadiss' kiss. Even though she has been dreaming of this moment for years, Amelia's mind goes blank at the sweetness of his mouth. She melts into his arms.  
Soon he stops and backs away a bit, watching the princess, whose eyes are still closed. He grins as she opens her lids, lashes fluttering, and also smiles.  
They say nothing, but move closer together, Zel placing his arms around Amelia. They spend the rest of the night in that way, only splitting apart for Zelgadiss to inhale a club sandwich.  
In the morning, Prince Phil finds them asleep together on the couch. Chuckling to himself, he shuts the door and goes back to his royal duties.  
OWARI  
  
AN: Wow, I can't believe that mush came from my mind! I need to go back to writing humor now.  



End file.
